Thornton Park may find its way to a small screen debut.
Openly gay Orlando resident Randy Ross and his friends were filmed by a production crew out of Windmere for three days during July. That footage is now being edited into a pilot that will be presented to Bravo.
“[The production company and I] have been talking about doing a reality show for a long time, and I decided to cast four of my friends and produce the pilot,” Ross said. “It’s gone from a three-minute segment to a full-fledged show.”
Ross said two of the cast members are parents and they’re all in their 40s.
“We’re trying to get past gay stereotypes and portray gay life differently,” he said. “It’s for a different audience—not just a different reality TV audience but a different gay nightlife audience because that tends to be a younger group.”
Ross said the editing should take about two weeks and that Bravo has already been presented with the show’s concept. It was pitched as a 13-week series and the pilot was filmed with four cameras.
“What happens now is that [Bravo] wants to see it, wants to see if what we pitched, we can deliver,” Ross said. “We didn’t have to create drama. It just happens.”
The footage includes a family dinner that turned into a heated political discussion, a Botox party, a fundraiser that made $500 for Hope & Help of Central Florida and an Equality Florida mixer.
Ross said there’s a good chance Bravo will pick up the show.
“The hardest part of getting a show sold for television is getting the network to want to see it, and that’s already there,” he said.
Ross added that there will be a viewing party at Sip once the editing is finished.
